Hands in, and ready to help: Drop-In Volunteering lets you get in touch with your inner gardener.
Wild Wednesdays introduce your little ones to plants, animals and the joys of wearing a tool belt!
BY MAEVE GATELY | The High Line’s summer activities range from dance parties to nature tours to afternoon activities for little ones and nighttime stargazing for urban astronomers. Organized by Friends of the High Line, it’s hard not to find something along the renovated train tracks that piques your interest. Here are a few of our favorites. For a full schedule, visit thehighline.org/events or call 212-206-9922. Many of the events are recurring — so if you happen to miss one, just head over the next week! Unless noted otherwise, all events are free.
DROP-IN VOLUNTEERING Kick off your office pumps (or loafers) and slip into a pair of work boots for a morning in the soil! For those of us craving a little green on our commute to work, Drop-In Volunteering Tuesdays offer a chance to get in touch with our inner gardener, then go back to the air-conditioned office. No materials required — just your able hands and a willingness to weed. Show up at the Chelsea Market overpass between 8 and 11am (sign-up ends at 10:30am), and a High Line gardener or custodian will direct you to your task and get you started. Activities include weeding the beds, pruning plants, cleaning the park’s design features and more. Get down in the shrubbery, then slip back on those heels and go to that meeting as if you’ve just gone to get a latté.
Sign-up at the Chelsea Market Passage at 16th St. Space is limited to 10 volunteers. Volunteers must be 14 or older, and those 14-17 must be accompanied by a caregiver. For more information on this and other volunteer opportunities, contact Volunteer Coordinator Karla Osorio-Pérez at karla.osorio-perez@thehighline.org, or call 212- 206-9922.
WILD WEDNESDAYS Bring your little wild ones down to the High Line to meet some critters of their own! Wild Wednesdays are themed, interactive opportunities for kids to engage with nature, learn about plants and animals and get in touch with their inner botanist. This month, it’s all about the life cycle of plants, with consecutive Wednesdays focusing on roots, stems, leaves and flowers. Follow the bloom of High Line plants, and watch your five-year-old peer at the vein structure of a leaf. If this is not enough to sprout your interest, the last Wednesday of the month (July 31) coincides with High Line Honey Day. So go “Wild,” then taste your way through NYC’s honey offerings (and meet beekeepers from all five boroughs). Throughout the month, kids will have the opportunity to play with the High Line Children’s Workyard Kit. Inspired by the High Line’s industrial past, its finished wood planks and oversize bolts fit together with knobs, cranks and various odds and ends to make for a unique building experience that is as informative as it is fun!
Open to kids aged 4 and up, accompanied by their caretakers. Wednesdays, 4 -6pm, Chelsea Market 14th St. passage.
HIGH LINE INFORMATION STATION Ever wonder how the High Line went from an abandoned railroad to one of the city’s hottest attractions? Looking for a chance to read about the local plants, or ask all of the questions you might have about that modern art bird feeder? Come to the Chelsea Market overpass and meet the High Line Greeters, who will share their knowledge of the elevated park with you. In addition to fielding your questions, the information station greeters will hand out bloom calendars, explain what is in season and talk about upcoming events.
Every Thursday from 1-7p,m, Friday, Saturday and Sunday from 11am-7pm in the Chelsea Market Overpass at 16th St.
¡Arriba! Community Dance Parties bring a little swing to those hot summer nights.
¡ARRIBA! COMMUNITY DANCE PARTIES Salsa to Latin mamba under summer skies, and be happy again. Part of High Line Live! and presented with HAI (Hospitals Audiences, Inc., an arts nonprofit that brings arts events to the city’s underserved communities) and Hudson Guild, ¡Arriba! Community Dance Parties bring together dancers and amateurs alike in an open-air Latin dance party! On July 24, the joyful, driving lyrics of Liliana Araújo and her band Forró da Madame bring Brizillian forró (a style of music characterized by percussive beats and the zabumba bass drum) to Chelsea, with vocals that will keep you dancing till you drop. August 21 features Nu D’Lux. New York’s “most original Cuban style dance band and perhaps the funkiest Salsa on the planet” combines a host of styles to make a sound that is lively, spicy and entirely their own. Wear through your dancing shoes, and then head down to a nearby restaurant or wine bar to mellow out the end of your night with laughter and conversation. As Nu D’Lux declares, “This party’s not for sitting, friends.”
Wednesday, July 24 and Wednesday, August 19, 7-10 pm. Chelsea Market passage at 16th St.
STARGAZING ON THE HIGH LINE Chelsea’s elevated park has more to offer than cool breezes and lazy strolls. Long before the sky darkens, members of the Amateur Astronomers Association gather on the High Line — and invite you to watch the sunset through their telescopes. The real show begins when the planets and red giants begin to emerge. On a recent Tuesday night, tourists, families and locals alike peered through the lens at a dim, red spot we soon learned was Mercury. The smallest of the planets, Saturn, was also visible (as were its orange rings). When Venus rose over the Hudson, we gasped in wonder as a huge white spot flew by. Too big to be a plane and too fast to be a star, it was the International Space Station — and we all looked up in awe, at humanity in the heavens.
Free. Tuesdays, 6:30-9:30pm, on the High Line. Location and times vary, depending on conditions. For updated info, visit thehighline.org or call 212-206-9922.
